Top News:


Disney officially launches its password-sharing crackdown, letting users add an “Extra Member” for $6.99/month for Disney+ Basic, or $9.99 for Disney+ Premium — The company rolled out what it is calling its paid sharing policy this week, letting users add a member outside their household …


A look at Project 2025's plans for the news media, including defunding NPR, PBS, and other public broadcasters and removing restrictions on media ownership — From defunding NPR and PBS to kicking reporters out of the White House, it's an array of conservative priorities and Trumpian retreads.
Discussion:
Tong Li on LinkedIn, @johnastoehr, @newsjennifer, @laurengbarton, @jillgeisler, @froomkin and @jbenton


Mark Zuckerberg says Meta will likely strike “certain partnerships” for AI training content, but some publishers may be overestimating their content's value — 'If they demanded that we don't use their content, then we just wouldn't use their content.'


A US bankruptcy judge says he will approve an auction of Alex Jones' Infowars and its assets in November 2024 to help Jones pay $1B+ to Sandy Hook families — Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones ' Infowars media platform and its assets will be sold off piece by piece in auctions this fall …


X releases its first transparency report since Elon Musk took over; X took action on 2,361 accounts over hateful content in H1 2024, down from 1M in H2 2021 — In the first half of 2024, the report says, X received nearly 67 million reports of hateful conduct, and took action on more than 2,000 accounts.


The Spectator appoints ex-UK cabinet minister Michael Gove as editor, starting on October 8, after its takeover by GB News co-owner Sir Paul Marshall — Former Cabinet minister will take over from Fraser Nelson on Oct 8 - three months after standing down as MP
Discussion:
New Statesman, Financial Times, @strykermcguire, @jonnelledge, @rupertmyers, Press Gazette, @warwickmansell, @davidfolkenflik, The Guardian, @noahkeate, Associated Press, @euanrellie, @hasanpatel, Bloomberg, @danbarker, @carolineslocock, @brokenbottleboy, @gordonrayner, @gordonrayner, Politico, @freddiesayers and @dhothersall


Univision says Harris and Trump will appear at separate town halls in front of a Spanish-speaking audience in October, moderated by journalist Enrique Acevedo — - “There are more than 36 million Hispanics eligible to vote in the U.S., making them the largest minority in the country …
Discussion:
TelevisaUnivision, @bsdtectr.bsky.social, @brianstelter, HuffPost, The Hill, Variety, Adweek, The Wrap, TVLine, The Hollywood Reporter, TVNewsCheck and Deadline


CNN's Jake Tapper and Dana Bash accused Rep. Rashida Tlaib of antisemitism and doubled down after the source of a statement attributed to Tlaib corrected them — In the last three days, CNN hosts Jake Tapper and Dana Bash have performed a masterclass in journalistic malpractice — better described in this case as “lying.”


How NBC News, CNN, Fox News, and others are preparing for election day, with contingency plans to push back against misinformation and cover legal reviews — Here's how they're preparing to make calls in a very tight race — and ensure that viewers and readers believe them.
Discussion:
Media Matters for America, TMZ.com, @benmullin and @benmullin


A US district court judge grants a judgment against LibGen for copyright infringement, ordering it to pay $30M and requiring the disabling of LibGen domains — A New York federal court has ordered the operators of shadow library LibGen to pay $30 million in copyright infringement damages.


Automattic sends a cease-and-desist letter to WP Engine, alleging unauthorized use of the WordPress trademark, after WP Engine sent a C&D letter on September 23 — The brouhaha in the WordPress community looks likely to escalate into a legal battle around trademarks.
Discussion:
One Man & His Blog, @carnage4life, @carnage4life, Search Engine Journal and TechRadar, more at Techmeme »


Sources: Bari Weiss' The Free Press raised about $15M at a ~$100M valuation; Bari Weiss posted an article this week that said the outlet had 800,000+ readers — The fundraise values Bari Weiss's venture at $100mn — US media start-up The Free Press has raised a further round of funding from investors …
Discussion:
@ivanlevingston, @pressgazette and @jayhawkjeff.bsky.social